Uvalde School Board Takes No Action on Shooting in Closed-Door Session

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board decided during a special meeting held Friday to take no action in response to last week's deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in the south Texas town.

The board chose to hold a portion of their meeting behind closed doors while considering the topics of potentially firing employees like embattled school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo and other legal issues related to the May 24 shooting. No action was taken against Arredondo, who has faced heavy criticism and calls for his termination over decisions that may have prevented police from stopping gunman Salvador Ramos before he killed 19 children and two teachers.

According to the meeting agenda, the closed-door portion of Friday's meeting allowed the board to consider "approval of personnel employments, assignments, suspensions, and terminations," as well as "legal issues related to the events at Robb Elementary School" and a resolution allowing school district superintendent Bob Harrell to "act during the ongoing situation."

Arredondo has faced criticism for choosing to label Ramos a "barricaded" subject rather than an "active shooter" during the shooting, paralyzing the police response despite students making desperate 911 calls while trapped inside a classroom with Ramos—a move that Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw called the "wrong decision."

During an encounter with a CNN reporter on Wednesday, Arredondo dodged a question about McCraw's remark, insisting that he would not respond as part of an effort to remain "respectful" toward the families of victims but that police would "eventually" explain their actions.

Arredondo was not present at the school board meeting. Many residents of Uvalde have called for Arredondo to quit or be fired, saying that lives could have been saved if he had made different decisions, according to The Texas Tribune.

Only two parents spoke at Friday's meeting, including Dawn Pointevent, who reportedly said her 7-year-old son was now "deathly afraid" to attend school. After the meeting, parent Angela Turner also spoke about her disappointment that the board declined to fire Arredondo and failed to discuss safety at schools.

"We want answers to where the security is going to take place," Turner told reporters after the meeting, according to CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz. "This was all a joke. I'm so disappointed in our school district."

Arredondo, who was elected to the Uvalde city council on May 7, has deliberately remained largely out of the public eye following the shooting, becoming "a man in hiding," according to the Tribune. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin swore him in as a member of the city council behind closed doors earlier this week.

Newsweek reached out to the school board for comment.